HIV babies shrug off infection

NINE children who were infected with HIV at birth have apparently shaken off the infection. Researchers in Europe who have been following the fortunes of children born to women infected with HIV have identified a tiny proportion of infected babies who seem either to have rid themselves of the virus, or who can live with it without becoming ill.

About 15 per cent of babies born to HIV-positive mothers become infected while they are still in the womb or during delivery. But over the past few years there have been sporadic reports of infected babies who have subsequently stopped producing antibodies against HIV and remained well. Marie-Louise Newell of the Institute of Child Health in London and colleagues across Europe, who set up the European Collaborative Study to track down such children, report that they have identified nine such cases.

"There are many people in the AIDS field who don't ...

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